No time to mope, Bernard Tomic set his sights on securing a Wimbledon seeding after crashing out of the Australian Open on Sunday.
Classy Czech Tomas Berdych dealt Tomic a grand slam reality check, abruptly ending the 22-year-old's campaign with a clinical 6-2 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 fourth-round victory at Melbourne Park.
Tomic was on the back foot from the get-go and conceded the big-hitting Wimbledon finalist and world No.7 was simply too good.
"When he's playing good, you cannot do anything," Tomic said.
"You just have to stick in the match and hopefully turn it around. Today he was just playing well and he was going for his shots. There was not a lot I could do.
"If I would have played better, served better, I might have had a better chance maybe after that second set. Who knows.
"But, look, he's been there four, five, six years in the top seven, eight. He's an amazing player."
Despite the defeat, Tomic will return to the world's top 50 next week as he continues his comeback from double hip surgery last year.
A quarter-finalist at the All England Club as a teenager in 2011, Tomic said his next big goal was boosting his ranking to maximise his chances of making another title run at Wimbledon in June.
"I probably didn't play my best tennis this last week, but it was solid," he said.
"I'm very happy with the performance this week. Now I push the next few months. I have a lot of tournaments.
"I'm going to Memphis, Delray Beach, Acapulco, so many tournaments. Until Wimbledon, I don't defend anything.
"So for me the goal is to get to top 20 soon."
Davis Cup is another of Tomic's priorities in 2015 and he admitted taking on the Czech Republic in Ostrova in March with the hosts unlikely to have Berdych available presented a huge opportunity for Australia.
"It makes a big difference," Tomic said.
"I think if he doesn't play, then you have lots of guys like (Lukas) Rosol, you have (Jiri) Vesely winning tournaments now, and the doubles team is strong.
"They're still strong. But if Tomas doesn't play, it's a big benefit for us for sure."
Australia haven't progressed beyond the first round of the Davis Cup World Group since making the semi-finals - and losing to Argentina in Buenos Aires - in 2006.
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